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I had the pleasure of attending Richard Sherman’s Second Annual Celebrity Softball Game on Sunday, and so did roughly 22,000 other fans. The event was three times bigger this year than last, well enough to move from Cheney Stadium to Safeco Field. I’m sure winning the Super Bowl had nothing to do with that at all.

Several of the champions made an appearance, including Earl Thomas III, Michael Bennett, Russell Wilson, Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin, and Brandon Browner. No Marshawn (sigh), as Sherm failed to incorporate green slime. Kobe Bryant, Macklemore and several other celebrities also contributed on the field. The event started off with a home run derby, and to little surprise, Russell hit nearly every ball out of the park. Nate Robinson, current NBA player and former two-sport UW great, gave him quite the competition.

Much like any charity event, literally everybody won, with Sherman raising somewhere around $1 million (purely based on my own math based on ticket and auction sales – I couldn’t get an official number from Sherm’s Foundation site). Even better: Kobe wants to bring the NBA back to Seattle! It was his first time back in the city since our dearly departed Sonics left after 2008. “I’ve always enjoyed coming here. I’d much rather come here in the postseason than Oklahoma,” Bryant said. It made me like him more, briefly, anyhow. Then I came to my senses and remembered that any logical person would rather visit Seattle than Oklahoma City.

Sidney Rice Announces Retirement at Age 27

Oh, if only we could all retire at the age of 27. Sidney Rice announced on Wednesday that he was officially retiring from the NFL. Rice, plagued by injuries since his arrival in Seattle (a familiar trend, given the team’s fantastic medical staff), said via Press Release:

“I was just thinking about things I’ve been through in the last few years. I’ve hit the ground a number of times. I have quite a few injuries. It’s something I’ve always battled through and came back from. But I just figure at this point I have the rest of my life ahead of me and I want to be able to function and do things later down the road.”

Despite Sidney’s early retirement, it doesn’t look like he’s cutting ties with the Pacific Northwest anytime soon. He recently opened a Wingstop restaurant in Tacoma and plans on opening four more – one in Renton in three weeks, eventually in Kent and Rainier Valley, and another at a to-be-determined location down the road.

Though I frequently kid about Sidney’s propensity for club-going as opposed to ball-catching, he appears to have had business on his mind since Minnesota: “I’m sort of a job creator right now,” admitted Rice, “What got me into the wings? It’s my favorite food. In Minnesota there was no Wingstop. So me and Adrian Peterson, every time we’d have an away game, we’d hop in the car and try to find a Wingstop. So we always talked about opening one.” He is also helping to develop apps and create awareness for fast and fresh healthy food in public schools.

Okay, so I guess he didn’t quit just because of his hangovers.

Lynch Won’t Report for Open Camp

Michael Robinson of former Seahawks fullback fame and the Real Robinson Report told the NFL Network last night that Marshawn Lynch would not report to opening day of training camp and planned to hold out pending contract negotiations.

Robinson, who is close with Lynch and has advised him on his contract concerns, noted that Lynch wants the Seahawks to validate his value to the organization. He would like to renegotiate his contract with more money up front as he enters the third year of his four-year deal that pays him $30 million.

According to Mike Rob, he believes that Marshawn will play regardless this year. But with Lynch carrying the offense over the past three years, the Seahawks organization would be wise to negotiate with their silent-but-deadly weapon. Feed the Beast.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.